Losing our patience
Zionist Israelis may one day get tired of minority groups living at their expense
Srulik’s hunched shoulders bear a heavy burden. Srulik is a Zionist Jew whose sin was to decide to build a home for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel. Among other things, he constitutes the only reason why Jews today breathe air instead of cyclone gas. It’s only thanks to Srulik that hilltop youth such as Yehonakam Ben Tsrua can place two mobile homes at some obscure outpost without being massacred by their neighbors. Srulik is also responsible for Ibrahim and Muhammad receiving health and welfare services at Western world standards, instead of suffering under the tyranny of some Syrian or Libyan ruler.
Yet Yehuda Leib, Yehonakam, and Muhammad hate Srulik and wish to see his downfall. They don’t really think about the day after. Yehuda Leib, for example, forgot where he escaped to after the Holocaust. He is busy educating his sons that the Zionists didn’t do enough to save him back in 1942. He doesn’t want to recall Jabotinsky, who was traveling through Europe and urging the Jews: Eliminate the Diaspora, or else it will eliminate you. He also forgets why the Hebron Yeshiva, which saw 24 of its sons murdered in 1929, moved from Hebron to Jerusalem. He doesn’t ask himself what a community of fewer than 500,000 Jews could do against the Wehrmacht while at the same time preparing for Rommel’s expected invasion.
Yehuda Leib puts all his hatred into the diaper he hurls at his brother, the Zionist policeman. By doing that he is no different than the radical Right, the Arabs, and those ridiculous Breaking the Silence characters who make up libelous tales and smear Israel on the news. The reckless conduct of the minorities raises a difficult question: If everyone is preoccupied with attempts to eliminate Srulik, what will be the reality the day after? Are we going to see a religious government, which at this time cannot even properly manage the town of Bnei Brak?
Unbearable ease of destruction
Each minority conducts itself as though it is a protected resident unconcerned by state affairs. It demands its share, burns, swears, loiters, breaks, and wounds. After all, at the end of the day Srulik will fix all the traffic lights and purchase new garbage dumpsters. Srulik will also go to the army, Srulik will pay taxes, and Srulik will eliminate Hitler from Tehran.
Each sector has its own excuses. “The Zionists are outraged when they see a malnourished Orthodox child, but where are they when the Fashion Channel features such phenomena every day?” the haredim say. This is roughly the level of justifications they provide. The violence in the wake of the starving mother affair showcased the unbearable ease of destruction. Community leaders observed the events and said nothing.
So maybe Srulik will become fed up one of these days. He will get sick and tired of the fact that his capital is being set on fire so casually. He will grow tired of religious schools that teach plenty of Torah but no manners. He will become fed up with those who are unwilling to contribute anything but often fundraise; the ones who spit on our national symbols as long as they don’t appear on their welfare allowances.
One of these days, Srulik may regain his senses, get up from the couch, turn off the television, and get to work. He will start, for God’s sake, by separating religion and state. Later he will file libel suits against radical leftist organizations. He will no longer fund the religious schools that poison their surroundings with hatred and venom. He will require those studying at his expense to teach the core curriculum and make it clear to everyone that this is it, the party is over. Who knows, after a few such actions and decisive moves, perhaps he will even be able to survive to our 70th Independence celebrations.
